


SIPHON ▹ marvel

by fandomlover727



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Artist Steve Rogers, Avengers Family, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Spoilers, Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Awesome Clint Barton, Awesome Sharon Carter (Marvel), BAMF Natasha Romanov, BAMF Wanda Maximoff, Brother-Sister Relationships, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Civil War (Marvel), Civil War Team Captain America, Civil War Team Iron Man, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Clint Barton's Farm, Clint and Laura Barton's Family, Confused Scott Lang, Cute Vision (Marvel), Dysfunctional Family, Family Feels, Father Figures, Feels, Gen, Hydra (Marvel), Loki's Scepter (Marvel), Manipulation, Mind Control, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Nick Fury Knows All, Old Peggy Carter, Pietro Maximoff Dies, Pietro Maximoff Feels, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Avengers, Protective Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro, Siblings, Siphon, Siphoners (Vampire Diaries), Sokovia (Marvel), Sokovia Accords, Spider-Man: Homecoming Spoilers, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Superheroes, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Wanda Maximoff Needs a Hug, younger sister
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2020-07-25 15:36:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20028193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomlover727/pseuds/fandomlover727
Summary: 𝐒𝐈𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍he's fast,she's weird,she's elemental.[ DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING FROM THE MCU, ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE CREATORS OF MARVEL, ANY MUSIC, AND ANY GIFS USED THROUGHOUT THIS FANFICTION. I ONLY OWN MY OC'S AND THEIR PLOTS ]





	1. SUMMARY

** KATARINA 'KATYA' MAXIMOFF **was born in Sokovia two years after her older siblings Wanda and Pietro, twins. Although she grew up relatively poor in the war-stricken country, she was always grateful that she was able to have both of her siblings as well as both of her parents.

Each Maximoff sibling was way different than the other. Wanda was observant and anti-social while Pietro was hyperactive and mischievous. Katya had always been a people pleaser. She was charismatic as well as naive in the sense that she always saw the best in people.

Each sibling balanced the other out, their parents saw them as their little miracles, the only brightness that they got to experience after a rather long day trying to work as much as possible in order to put food on the table and pay the bills.

Katya was only eight years old when she lost her parents, the twins had been ten years old. Their parents had finally gotten a night off from work so they could all have a family dinner, all five of them. It was supposed to be a happy night for them, however, it turned deadly real quick.

A mortar shell hit their apartment building and killed their parents instantly, making a huge hole in the floor where their parents' bodies had fallen into. Pietro had pulled his sisters under their shared bed(due to the fact that they were poor and lived in a studio apartment) right before the second shell came crashing through the apartment and landed three feet away from them in the rubble.

The three siblings waited two excruciating days for the shell to finally explode but it never did. During those two days they all practically studied the English words on the side of the shell. Although their English was rusty, "_Stark_" was printed on it clearly.

After they were rescued, the three fell into the cracks of Sokovia's barely functioning foster care system due to the war and poverty. They stayed with a nice older woman named Petra until she passed away.

The three siblings were apart of the protests against the foreign forces trying to invade their country, protests that were secretly orchestrated by HYDRA themselves as a distraction from their experimentation.

Their passion and strength made them get on HYDRA's radar as potential experiments. They were told that they would be given the power needed to drive the foreigners out of their home country, making them agree instantly.

Out of all the test subjects, only the three Maximoff's survived which baffled all of HYDRA's doctors and scientists. They were especially taken back when Katya had survived despite being extremely young.

It also seemed that their newfound powers were connected to their personality. Katya was able to siphon energy and elements from the earth and bend it to her will, using it to either hurt or help others.

They were HYDRA's, and Strucker's specifically, most special weapons on a much different level than any super-soldier would be. They were kept secret as much as possible until the Avengers raised their Sokovian base and the three decided to fight back.

They were later approached by a rogue AI created by Tony Stark himself, one that defied its creator, named Ultron who wanted to end the Avengers with the help of Wanda, Pietro, and Katya. He made them believe they were doing the right thing, but they soon learned that their own personal hatred clouded their judgment and was on the wrong side of this battle. 


	2. ZERO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The introduction to the three Maximoff siblings.

**IN SOKOVIA, **the terrorist/criminal group named HYDRA had a secret underground lab where they had been doing secret experiments. The HYDRA thug Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, also known as Strucker, was talking to a HYDRA scientist named List.

"It's over. Fury has released everything to the public" List told his superior in a rather timid voice. When the Black Widow released all of HYDRA's documents that she had gotten access to, the evil organization was at a loss.

"Everything he knows about" Strucker corrected. "Herr Strucker, if they get word of our work here, if they find out we serve HYDRA..." Strucker cut him off, starting to walk as he spoke.

"HYDRA, SHIELD, two sides of a coin that's no longer currency" They walked through the desk area where HYDRA members were on computers, making their way to the corner of the lab where Loki's scepter was being held at.

"What we have is worth more than any of them ever knew. We've only scratched the surface and already..." They were now walking out of the lab, List was trailing behind the powerful thug.

"There are other facilities doing HYDRA's good work around the world. We'll feed them to Captain America and his colorful friends. Keep them off our scent" He explained. "What about the volunteers?" As List asked this, they had passed what seemed to be HYDRA's morgue.

"The dead will be buried so deep their own ghosts won't be able to find them" Strucker wasn't phased or disturbed at the thought of the volunteers who did not survive.

"And the survivors?" Strucker stopped walking, finally at his destination. "The siblings" List followed Strucker's gaze to three separate glass cells right next to each other.

Wanda's cell was on the far right as she exhibited her telekinesis powers to levitate a few blocks in the air, looking at them with an interest that was more focused on her powers.

Pietro's cell was on the far right as he exhibited his super-speed and accidentally crashing into the walls that confined him in such a small space. There was a slight blue mist behind him every time he ran.

And in the middle of both cells was the twins younger sister, Katya, who exhibited her powers. She could siphon elements from the earth and bend them to her will. She was currently playing with her favorite element, fire, as she created a small flaming ball and blew gently on it which made the flaming ball burst into flaming sparks like a mini firework.

"Sooner or later they will meet the twins and the siphon. It's not a world of spies anymore, not even a world of heroes. This is the age of miracles, doctor. There's nothing more horrifying than a miracle" Strucker smirked as he looked between the three, ready to surprise and then destroy the avengers.


	3. ONE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers invade the HYDRA base in Sokovia which leads them to meet the three enhanced siblings.

**HYDRA RESEARCH BASE**   
**SOKOVIA, EASTERN EUROPE:**

The avengers were in Sokovia, attacking the HYDRA base that was there. Everyone was in a frenzy to try and stop them from getting inside. People like Strucker and List were trying to make sure the Avengers wouldn't know anything about their enhanced experiments.

Strucker(aka the HYDRA Thug) entered the base, a monocle on his right eye per usual. "Who gave the order to attack?" One of the men who stood by the computers spoke up. "Herr Strucker, it's the Avengers" His voice wavered, not wanting to upset the man.

"They landed in the far woods, the perimeter guard panicked" One fortress soldier explained when he walked up to Strucker, a huge gun in his arms, before walking off. It was also at this time that List, a HYDRA scientist, approached Strucker.

"They have to be after the scepter" List spoke quietly so that only Strucker could hear. "Can we hold them?" Strucker asked the man he talked to first. "They are the Avengers!" He repeated, flabbergasted at Strucker thinking it was even possible.

Strucker ignored the man and walked deeper into the room where most of the others on the computers were. "Deploy the rest of the tanks" They replied with a 'yes sir'.

"Concentrate fire on the weak ones. A hit can make them close ranks" He made his way back over to List and spoke lowly. "Everything we've accomplished. But we're on the verge of our greatest breakthrough" He seemed to be complaining.

"Then let's show them what we've accomplished. Send out the twins and the siphon" List suggested, knowing that the three Maximoff siblings had been standing in the doorway. They always seemed eager to fight, more-so the twins than their young sister, and List believed they would easily take out the entire team.

"It's too soon" The thug denied, not wanting his three successes to either get injured or get captured by the righteous avengers. "It's what they signed up for" List's protests were ignored. "My men can hold them".

~

Strucker had some of his soldiers surrounding him as he gave them their orders. "We will not yield. The Americans sent their circus freaks to test us" Nobody had noticed the glimmer of mischievousness in Pietro's eyes as his twin sister communicated with him and their younger sister through their minds, sharing her idea.

"We will send them back in bags. No Surrender!" He finished, empowering the soldiers. "No Surrender" They all repeated before leaving. Strucker turned around and leaned closer to List.

"I am going to surrender. You will delete everything. If we give the Avengers the weapons, they may not look too far into what we've been..." List had looked to the side and his eyes had widened. "The siblings" Strucker was irritated by the man's insistence.

"They are not ready to take on..." List interrupted him. "No, no, I mean..." Strucker moved to face where List was gesturing at, the same place that the three Maximoff's had been previously but was now empty. "The siblings".

~

Wanda had gone off on her own to where the scepter was, the same thing that gave them their powers, to protect it and also see who would show up to retrieve it. The other two went to mess with the avengers.

Pietro went for Hawkeye while Katya went for Captain America. She had been explained to by some HYDRA agents information about the 'American Hero'. They told her that he was a man who could not live without war, a man who broke the rules and was still praised for it. Needless to say, she wasn't a big fan.

Pietro had dropped her off quickly to the general vicinity in which Steve Rogers was, leaving his little sister for a moment to do his mischievous work.

"Captain America. The Righteous Man" Steve spun around to attack but was taken back when he saw a girl who looked to be around fifteen standing behind him. He immediately took note of the accent, it was obvious that she was a native to Sokovia. Why was HYDRA recruiting kids?

"Such a disappointment, truly" She sneered before letting her eyes glow an orange-red color. Steve was about to throw his shield at her when he was knocked back by the wind into a tree. Steve tried to get up but it was as if the wind was holding him down.

Before she could do any more damage, she felt a gust of wind behind her which meant Pietro was there. "Come on, Kitty Kat" Pietro didn't leave any room for her to argue, grabbing his sister before zooming off.

The two went to find Wanda again as they spotted the rest of the Avengers getting ready to leave. They found her where the scepter was, only to shock them to see Tony Stark in the room as well.

It seemed like he hadn't noticed Wanda which made it much easier for them to approach. Pietro let go of his younger sister who was about to attack the man, only for Wanda to put her hand up to stop her.

Katya looked at her big sister with puzzlement as she let Tony take the specter. She then saw the mischievously wide smile and knew that Wanda had a long-game plan and would tell her later.

~

After the quinjet landed at the newly updated Avengers tower, most of the other Avengers had gone off on their own except for Tony and Steve who were still on the jet.

Maria Hill, a former SHIELD agent and now an employee for the 'Avengers' tower and Stark specifically, entered the quinjet with a tablet in hand.

"Lab's all set up, boss" Tony swirled around in his chair. "Uh, actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler" Tony joked before focusing on shutting everything down before he could leave.

"What's the word on Strucker?" Steve asked as he made his way over to Maria. "NATO's got him" Steve was glad that they had reprimanded the infamous HYDRA thug. "The three enhanced?" Maria turned around to follow Steve out and handing him the tablet.

"Wanda, Pietro, and Katarina Maximoff. Katarina is the youngest, the other two twins" Steve watched the footage of the three siblings at what appeared to be a protest from at least a year prior. Pietro's hair was fully dark brown which mirrors his little sister's hair. Katya looked at least twelve.

"Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building" Steve slid the tablet to the next slide that showed the damage of their former apartment, the two exited the quinjet and were still walking.

"Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special" Steve and Maria found themselves walking down a hallway to get to the elevator.

"Their abilities?" Steve thought back to what he saw each of the three siblings do. He didn't know the extent of their capabilities.

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation. The youngest ones got prime elemental absorption, elemental immunity, and ecological empathy" Steve gave her a look which made Maria realize that he didn't understand what she was saying.

"He's fast, she's weird, she's elemental" Steve now understood and handed Maria her tablet back. "Well, they're going to show up again" He made his way to enter the elevator. "Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts" Maria sighed.

"Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?" Maria rose an eyebrow. "We're not at war, Captain" He presses the button to go to the floor he wanted. "They are" The elevator doors closed at the perfect time, Maria couldn't help but think he was overdramatic and had perfect timing.


	4. TWO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maximoff siblings meet Ultron, an AI with the same disdain for Tony Stark and the Avengers that they held.

**THE MAXIMOFF SIBLINGS **were handing out essential items to the poor people of Sokovia, donations. Pietro, being himself, was handing out dresses that seemed to be super expensive to any pretty girl who came up to him.

Katya and Wanda were upset with him because they knew he had been stealing. Neither wanted to lose their brother because of his criminal actions.

Wanda and Katya had walked away from their brother, only for him to run at a normal human speed to get to their side. "You're both jealous that you aren't getting a dress," Pietro said with a smirk.

"If you keep stealing, you're going to get shot" Pietro scoffed at his twin's words. Wanda lightly hit him on the shoulder with one hand, her other hand was intertwined with her little sister's as she knew Katya got distracted easily and might wander off, despite being fifteen years old.

"I mean it. At speed, nothing can touch you but standing still—" Pietro cut off his sister's scolding. "You think I want to be? You said 'wait', I'm waiting. I don't know for what! We had Stark helpless, all these years—" Their conversation stopped when they heard a girl they knew named Zrinka run over to her little brother Costel who had been off on his own. Costel didn't pay attention to his sister's babbling and stared right at the three siblings.

"The man says you need to come to the church" The three Maximoff's looked at him with puzzlement. "What man, Costel?" Katya asked softly. "The Iron Man" The three shared a look of disbelief yet they still went to the old church that was missing a few fragments of its roof from all the war that was happening.

Katya stayed by her sister's side, knowing that both her siblings were particularly protective over her even though they were only a few years apart.

There was a creature appearing to be a robot sitting in a chair that was facing the opposite way that they were standing. "Talk. And if you are wasting our time..." The creature cut Wanda off.

"Did you know this church is in the exact center of the city? The elders decreed it so that everyone could be equally close to God. I like that. The geometry of belief" It's voice sounded robotic, Katya noticed, and knew it had to be some sort of invention by Stark.

"You're wondering why you can't look inside my head" Katya peered over at her sister whose eyes glowed red. "Sometimes it's hard. But sooner or later, every man shows himself" The creature stood up and turned around, showing that he was, in fact, a robot. His artificial body was a silver color, he was also extremely tall.

Wanda and Pietro pulled Katya backward when she didn't move like they were. She was intrigued by the artificial intelligence as she wondered why he would come to Sokovia to seek an audience with them, she assumed he came from the United States where Stark was.

"Oh, I'm sure they do. But you needed something more than a man. That's why you let Stark take the scepter" Pietro moves away from the robot who was walking towards them. Wanda and Katya stood their ground.

"I didn't expect. But I saw Stark's fear, I knew it would control him, make him self-destruct" Katya kept her eyes trained on the robot who noticed her look of awe.

"Everyone creates the thing they dread. Men of peace create engines of war, invaders create Avengers, people create...smaller people?" He thought for a moment of the word until it came to him.

"Uh...children! I lost the word there. Children. Like you, young one" He gestured to Katya before continuing. "Designed to supplant them, to help them...end" He finished. Ultron had been walking around while talking. The three siblings had huddled together as they didn't even know what he wanted.

"Is that why you've come? To end the Avengers?" Wanda inquired. "I've come to save the world. But also, yeah" They followed the robot, Ultron they learned, to the old HYDRA base that had been emptied after the Avengers invaded. The siblings hadn't been instructed on what to do so they started to live on the streets once more.

"We'll move out right away. This is a start, but there's something we need to begin the real work" They all couldn't help but be shocked to see dozens of robots working around the huge lab filled with the mechanical creations that HYDRA left behind.

Katya furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced at each robot. She couldn't use her powers on them, she wasn't that advanced with the enhancements inside her, but she could tell that they were almost identical to Ultron's physical appearance, they seemed to be more simplistic and were shorter than him, however.

"These are all you, aren't they?" Ultron gazed at the youngest Maximoff. "Correct, young one. I have what the Avengers never will. Harmony. They're discordant, disconnected. Stark's already got them turning on each other" He looked over at Wanda. "And when you get inside the rest of their heads..." Pietro was getting irritated and couldn't help but interrupt.

"Everyone's plan is not to kill them" Ultron turned to face the speedster. "And make them martyrs? You need patience. Need to see the big picture" Katya internally rolled her eyes. Out of them all, Pietro had the least amount of patience while Wanda had the most. Katya fell in between.

"I don't see the big picture, I have a little picture. I take it out and look at it every day" Ultron didn't appear to be mad, he seemed like he was almost understanding in Pietro's impatience. "You lost your parents in the bombings. I've seen the records" He told them.

"The records are not the picture" Katya flinched slightly as she remembered the screams, the explosion of the first bomb, and the dreadful feeling as she waited for her death at the young age of eight.

"Pietro" Wanda scolded, holding her sister's hand again as she could see the terrifying imagery going through her sister's head. "No, please" Pietro took a peek at his sister's facial expressions and hesitated before telling the tragic story.

"We were ten and eight years old having dinner, the five of us. When the first shell hits, two floors below, it makes a hole in the floor. It's big. Our parents go in, and the whole building starts coming apart. I grab them, roll under the bed and the second shell hits. But, it doesn't go off" All three siblings shared a similar somber look as they all remembered that day like it had just happened. 

"It just...sits there in the rubble, three feet from our faces. And on the side of the shell is painted one word..." Wanda looked over at Ultron, shining her red eyes. "Stark" Katya took a deep breath to calm herself. She didn't want her emotions to ever get out of control, that would mean her powers would get out of control just like her sister had experienced.

"We were trapped for two days" Katya added, glancing at her sister who sent her a sad smile. "Every effort to save us, every shift in the bricks, I think, '_This will set it off_'. We wait for two days for Tony Stark to kill us" Wanda finished the explanation.

"I know what they are" Pietro glowered at the thought of the Avengers, mostly Tony Stark who he hated. "I wondered why only you three survived Strucker's experiments. Now I don't. We will make it right" He then narrowed his gaze at the eldest Maximoff.

"You and I can hurt them" He then moved his gaze to the youngest Maximoff. "You and I can turn their own planet against them" And finally Ultron looked at the middle Maximoff sibling. "But you will tear them apart, from the inside".


	5. THREE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While getting Vibranium for Ultron's plan, they run into the Avengers again and this time gave them a hint of what the Maximoff’s were capable of.

ULTRON'S TARGET WAS A MAN they had heard that Strucker was in contact with named Ulysses Klaue. Ultron didn't want him dead, he just needed Vibranium and brought the three siblings along with him. They were currently in a salvage yard on the African Coast.

To get everyone to evacuate, Katya siphoned the electricity enough to make the normal lights go out. The emergency/backup lights turned on but it wasn't as bright. Still, a commotion was started in the salvage yard while Klaue was in his office.

He had been on the phone when the commotion started. He hung up the phone and got out of his chair to peer at his workers running around frantically. Klaue slowly reached for his gun that was on his desk, he heard a tiny noise and immediately shot at it. The bullet deflected as a blue blur flashed by him and detained him all while also getting the gun, removing all the bullets, and setting it on the desk as a display.

It was Pietro who had done so. He let go and watched as Klaue peered over at his desk and then turned back around to notice that Wanda and Katya were coming out of the shadows almost in a threatening manner.

"Yeah. The enhanced. Strucker's prize pupils" He confused the three Maximoff's by smiling and sitting down in his chair. "Want a candy?" He offered, grabbing a bowl off his desk and shaking it lightly in a sign of offering. When neither sibling went for it, he set the bowl back down.

"Oh, sorry to hear about Strucker. But then, he knew what kind of world he was helping create. Human life, not a growth market" The three siblings looked between each other in disbelief. Katya wasn't as shocked, she knew a lot of people hated Strucker and she couldn't blame them. Besides, he gave her the creeps with how obsessed he was over her and her siblings.

"You...you didn't know?" Klaue then directed his attention towards Wanda. "Is this your first time intimidating someone? I'm afraid that I'm not that afraid" Wanda stepped forward and moved closer towards the middle of the room.

Katya stepped a bit closer to her brother, making sure she stayed in the background. Manipulating people was more of Wanda's thing if they were using their powers. If they weren't using their powers, Pietro would've gotten her to do her famous pout and puppy dog eyes that usually worked with getting them free food whenever they needed it.

"Everybody's afraid of something" Wanda divulged, now standing by her sibling sides. Pietro crossed his arms over his chest in boredom while Katya longed to be outside instead of cooped up in this dingy warehouse.

"Cuttlefish. Deep-sea fish. They make lights. disco lights. Whoom, whoom, whoom! to hypnotize their prey, then whoom! I saw a documentary, it was terrifying" Pietro zoomed over to the candy dish and zoomed back to his original spot, eating one of the pieces of candy as he grew impatient with the man's odd words. Klaue gave him a look before continuing.

"So if you're going to fiddle with my brain, and make me see a giant cuttlefish, then I know you don't do business, and I know you're not in charge, especially not that child, and I only deal with the man in charge" Katya glared at the man who called her a child. She hated how people were lately calling her a child in a mocking tone, acting like she wasn't capable of the thing she could do. Ultron made his big entrance, cutting her train of thought off.

Ultron broke the glass window and knocked Klaue out of the room and into the hallway. "There is no man in charge. Let's talk business".

Klaue and one of his workers brought the four of them to where he hid his secret stash of Vibranium. "Upon this rock, I will build my church" Ultron quoted before Klaue handed him the tube-shaped container that held what they needed. "Vibranium" Ultron then tossed it over to Pietro, knowing that Katya couldn't hold on to it in case she accidentally siphoned it.

"You know, it came at great personal cost. It's worth billions" Ultron chuckled without any real humor, closing his robotic eyes before wiring Klaue billions of dollars to his bank account. "Now so are you" The worker with Klaue pulled out his phone that buzzed.

"It's all under your dummy holdings? Finance is so weird" Klaue held the phone and smiled wickedly at the amount of money he just received. "But I always say, 'Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich, and wait to find out which is which'." Both Klaue and his worker looked up slowly at the robot when they recognized the quote from someone else.

"Stark" Katya rose her eyebrows at the mention of the man Ultron was created by and yet despised. She knew it wasn't going to go well for the man, not that she really cared since Klaue had terrible working conditions and was conducting what she assumed to be an illegal business. She did, however, feel a tiny bit bad for him.

"What?" Ultron glowered with his pulsing red eyes. "Tony Stark used to say that...to me. You're one of his" This triggered the AI who had a lot of hatred towards his creator. "What?! I'm not..." Ultron grabbed Klaue roughly by the arm. His worker went to pull his gun out swiftly but was stopped by Wanda who used her manipulation to force the man to drop it.

"You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, his hollow men? I mean look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is nothing!" Out of anger, Ultron chopped off Klaue's arm. Ultron was oddly enough, remorseful for doing that to the man. He didn't want to be like his creator, the man he saw as a true monster along with the rest of the Avengers.

This was one of the reasons why Katya let herself align with the AI. Not because of the anger he held towards Stark and the Avengers, but the fact that he felt emotions and wanted to actually save both humanity and the nature that they had been destroying since the day they were created.

"I'm sorry. I am sor...Ooh, I'm sure that's going to be okay. I'm sorry, it's just I don't understand. Don't compare me with Stark!" Ultron kicked Klaue right in the jaw. The man was kicked with enough power that he fell down the flight of stairs that were right behind him. His worker backed off and downstairs.

Ultron didn't follow him down, he shouted down the stairs, "It's a thing with me. Stark is, he's a sickness!" The AI bellowed with deep-seeded anger.

"Ahh, Junior" The four allies heard the familiar voice of none other than Tony Stark behind them. Katya spun around to see Tony Stark landing down on the floor in his Iron Man suit along with Thor and Captain America standing behind him.

"You're gonna break your old man's heart" The four started to move forward on what was a mini-metal bridge that connected the two sides together. What lied underneath the bridge was where the workers usually were.

"If I have to" Ultron sneered. "We don't have to break anything" Thor interjected, although it was obvious that this wasn't going to have anything close to a peaceful resolution.

"Clearly you've never made an omelet" Ultron argued back. "He beat me by one second" Tony mumbled, earning a quick glance of confusion from his godly teammate.

"Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark" Pietro started to walk forward even more so he was basically next to Ultron instead of behind him. Wanda and Katya's eyes glowed threateningly for a moment before they turned back to normal, basically daring any of them to try and attack their older brother.

"It's what, comfortable?" Pietro's eyes moved to down and to the side where some bombshells were, being created into bombs. "Like old times?" Steve had informed Tony about what happened to the three Maximoff's and that the bomb had been a Stark one, hence their hatred for him.

"This was never my life" Tony defended. "You three can still walk away from this" Steve added as he started to move forward. He hated the thought of the three teenagers, still technically children, being involved in something they probably didn't know enough information about. Who knows what false information they were given by both Ultron and HYDRA.

"Oh, we will" Wanda nodded slightly, mocking the soldiers failed attempt at trying to get them to leave the fight. "I know you've suffered" Ultron cut him off when he saw how Steve's eyes showed sympathy for the Maximoff's.

"Uuughh! Captain America. God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war" The super-soldier clenched his jaw at Ultron's claims. "I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but..." Thor decided to speak up, hoping that the words of someone who wasn't human might get the AI to rethink.

"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it" Ultron inched forward. "I think you're confusing peace with quiet" Tony was becoming restless with the meaningless banter. "Yuh-huh. What's the Vibranium for?" Tony asked.

"I'm glad you asked that because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan!" As if on cue, two of the Iron Legions that Ultron stole appeared and started to fight Thor and Steve. Ultron used some sort of laser power to send Tony across the room.

He quickly recovered and turned on his accelerators at the same strength that Ultron did for his, flying straight at each other to battle 1v1.

Katya, Wanda, and Pietro waited for the right moment to start what they were told to do. When they saw Thor throw the Iron Legion to the ground, they started their own plan.

Pietro zoomed over to Thor and knocked him back a bit. Steve had gotten the Iron Legion he was fighting to fall down so he went to go after the two sisters, mainly Wanda due to his moral compass not wanting to hurt the youngest who was barely fifteen years old.

Wanda used her telekinesis-like powers while Katya used her manipulation of the wind to send Captain America backward.

Ultron had instructed Wanda and Katya to stay back as much as they could so Pietro could be the first to strike. When Katya saw Pietro go flying into a huge stack of cases on the bottom floor, Katya knew she had to help. She glanced at Wanda who nodded, letting her know that she should go help Pietro, so she did.

Katya jumped over the railing and used her air manipulation to stop her from crashing and giving her a rather soft landing. Air and wind were the first elements she was able to master, especially since it was constantly assessable to her.

Katya then ran over to Pietro just as Steve knocked him back to the ground with his shield when Pietro was about to get up. "Stay down, kid" She heard Steve tell him before he ran off.

As soon as he had left, Katya ran over to her older brother and helped him up. "I don't like him" Pietro snarled at the thought of the supposed righteous man.

They noticed Wanda warping Thor's mind, knowing that in her specific list the next person was obviously Captain America. "Revenge time, brother?" Pietro smirked with pride when he saw the mischievous glint in his little sister's eyes that matched his own. "Of course, Kitty-Kat" Pietro grabbed her arm before he zoomed then over to where Steve was.

Steve had thrown one of the guards of the workplace they were at over his shoulder(Klaue called all his men to attack any and all of the intruders). Before he could notice Katya and Pietro, she sent a rather high voltage bolt of electricity at him. Steve fell to the ground in pain, his body obviously felt like it was electrocuted.

Wanda came over and used her powers to warp Steve's mind to trap him in his worst fear before moving to her next victim. They stayed back for a moment to watch Steve groan in pain. Pietro smirked before grabbing his younger sister's arm again and zoomed off.

The two fought some guards who were attacking them with ease. Katya made sure that they hadn't died, they were just going to be unconscious for a while. They then went to go find Wanda.

Both were filled with rage when they noticed that the man known as Hawkeye stuck an arrow to her forward that zapped her mind. Pietro let go of Katya and zoomed over to help his other sister.

Katya used water to basically created a cocoon around Clint before making him fly through a window into one of the office rooms. Clint groaned in pain and looked up at Katya who sent him a triumphant smirk before Pietro grabbed her arm and zoomed both her and Wanda out.

As soon as they were outside, Pietro let go of Katya's arm and set Wanda on the ground. Both siblings fussed over their sister's wellbeing.

"What can we do?" Wanda clenched her eyes shut as she lightly touched her forehead with her hand. She then winced at the feeling due to her forehead feeling sensitive.

"Ah, it hurts" Wanda hissed out in pain. The protective side came out of Pietro, the eldest of the three. "I'm gonna kill him. I'll be right back" Wanda shook her head.

"No. I'm over it. I want...I want to finish the plan" She finally opened her eyes and turned to look at the quinjet. "I want the big one".


	6. FOUR

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya and her siblings find out about Ultron’s betrayal and somewhat switch sides.

AFTER WANDA LET THE HULK loose in Africa, they travel over to Seoul, Korea in order to get a woman named Helen Cho to help him input himself into a different body. The three stayed back as Ultron dealt with her.

Wanda noticed how Katya wanted to do something when Ultron used the scepter to mind control Helen. Wanda held his sister's hand for comfort as they watched Helen hook wires into Ultron as she started to upload him into the new body. The scepter has a gem inside of it that powered the entire thing, they took the gem out and put it on the forehead of the new body.

Wanda moved into the room as Pietro and Katya stayed a way back. "I can read him. He is dreaming" Katya smiled softly at her big sister's curiosity. "I wouldn't call it dreams. It's Ultron's base consciousness, informational noise. Soon..." Ultron cut Helen off.

"How soon? I'm not being pushy" Wanda started to inch closer to the cradle and put her hands on it to read Ultron's mind while Helen was explaining to him what was about to happen.

"We're imprinting a physical brain. There are no shortcuts. Even if your magic gem is..." Katya jumped, startled when she heard her sister scream in pain and grabbed her forehead.

Both she and Pietro rushed over to Wanda's side and helped make sure she didn't fall over. "What, what's wrong?" Pietro put his hand on Wanda's cheek for a moment as he checked to make sure she was physically okay. Once he let go, Wanda clung on to both of her siblings, making sure Katya was behind her if things got bad.

"How could you?" She cried out. This worried Katya even more. "How could I what?" Ultron asked, standing up. "You said we would destroy the Avengers, make a better world" Katya and Pietro shared a look of confusion.

"It will be better" He tried to defend himself, not wanting to lose his three biggest allies, his three most powerful ones at that. "When everyone is dead" Katya held back a gasp, portraying a facial expression that Wanda and Pietro compared to a kicked puppy.

"That is not..." He paused for a moment to change his tone. "The human race will have every opportunity to improve" All three siblings shared similar looks of horror. "And if they don't?" Pietro questioned.

"Ask Noah" Katya shook her head as she kept a tight grasp on her big sister's arm. "How could you? You promised you'd help!" Katya exclaimed, her bottom lip trembling as tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Young one, there were more than a dozen extinction-level events before even the dinosaurs got theirs. When the Earth starts to settle, God throws a stone at it, and believe me, he's winding up. We have to evolve. There's no room for the weak" Ultron turned away from them, running his robotic hands over the cradle. Even Ultron, an AI, couldn't help but feel a bit guilty when he saw the expression on Katya's face.

While Ultron was looking away, Wanda used her powers to break the scepter's influence over Helen. "Life. Life always decides" He either hears something or sensed something with his AI abilities.

"There's incoming. The Quinjet. We have to move" Pietro kissed the forehead of both of his sister's in case anything happened.

"That's not a problem" Helen spoke before disconnecting the cradle. When the AI realizes what she had done, he used his power beams to blast her. He turned to face the three siblings only to find them gone. Pietro had quickly and swiftly grabbed his sister's and zoomed off.

"Ah, wait, guys!" Ultron started to blast some of Helen's technicians. "They'll understand. When they see they'll understand. I just need a little more time" He unplugged himself from the cradle and prepared for the battle he would have with the Avengers that arrived.

~

Pietro had gotten them to the sidewalk, far enough away from the research lab that they weren't in danger from Ultron acting out. The three disheveled, out of place siblings walked as normal as they could down the sidewalk until they came across a tv broadcasting what appeared to be the Avengers fighting Ultron and his army of Iron Legions.

Katya looked at both of her siblings, carefully executing her puppy dog eyes and little pout. "No, you could get hurt, prinţesă" Pietro's words made her roll her eyes. "I have powers, remember? Besides, this is our fault for aligning ourselves with Ultron. He's going to attack a train full of innocent people. Why not help?" Pietro and Wanda gave each other a knowing look.

They couldn't convince Katya to stay behind no matter how hard they could try. It was better to just go with and make sure she wouldn't get hurt. "We'll come with you," Wanda told her, making her sister smile brightly before they went to go do the right thing.

~

Ultron was punching Steve over and over again on the train as the superhero tried to fight back. Who knows what would've happened if the Maximoff's didn't show up.

The only reason Ultron stopped was that Pietro zoomed by in a blur of blue. Ultron, now shifting his focus on the speedster, went to march over to him when a wall of what appeared to be train tracks surrounded by a familiar red mist appeared right in front of him which blocked his path to attack Pietro.

This also blocked Ultron off from the civilians that were trapped on the train. The side where Ultron was trapped in had Katya and Wanda at it. Wanda’s hands had mist pouring out because she was using her powers. Katya’s eyes shined an orange-like color as flames started to shine off her fingertips. The AI turned around to see both of the sisters glaring at him profusely.

“Please. Don’t do this” Ultron begged, not wanting to lose his most powerful allies, the only humans he had trusted. “What choice do we have?” Ultron sent a blast towards the front of the train, Pietro zoomed quickly enough to get both himself and the innocent passengers out of the way.

Ultron then knocked out one of the train doors and flew out. Wanda and Katya gripped onto each other for support so they wouldn’t stumble and end up flying out of the train.

They watched as Steve rushed over to where the train’s operation room was, yelling things to his teammates over their comms. He ordered Clint to fly off in the quinjet as soon as he got the cradle and to leave him behind. The train was about to fly off the tracks where they had stopped adding on to it.

As it did so, everyone on the train, minus the enhanced solider and siblings, screamed in terror as they tried to find something to hold on to.

Steve turned to face the three Maximoff’s who looked at him with wide eyes, almost as if they were waiting for instructions. “Civilians in our path” He pointed outside, giving Pietro the cue to use his super-speed to get people out of the way.

“Can you stop this thing?” He then asked Wanda and Katya. Wanda looked almost a bit tired from what she had exerted her powers throughout the day. Katya took a step forward. “I can” Wanda held on to her sister still in order to keep her in place so she could use her powers.

Controlling wind to increase speed was easy, but decreasing was a bit more complex for the fifteen-year-old girl. Still, Katya took a deep breath before she concentrated on the ground and the train’s bottom itself. The train almost instantly came to a halt as Katya squeezed her eyes closed to concentrate more.

As soon as the train stopped, civilians that weren’t on the train immediately rushed over to help the passengers get off. All the windows were shattered, multiple dents throughout the entire train, all of the doors were gone, and a cloud of smoke started to come out of the train. Before getting off herself, Katya siphoned the electricity and the fire building up until it was all gone and there was no chance of it bursting into flames or electrocuting everyone.

Wanda helped her sister off of the train and got her a good distance away before letting her stay still. The two spotted their elder brother and rushed over to his side. “Piet!” The teen was hunched over, clearly out of breath, but shooed his sister’s hands away from trying to aid him.

“I'm fine. I just need to take a minute” Pietro informed his sister’s before sitting down on a bench. “I'm very tempted not to give you one” They turned their heads to see Captain America approaching them with a stern gaze.

“The Cradle, did you get it?” Wanda inquired, worried that the Avengers fight was all for nothing. That the destruction of the entire city was all for nothing. “Stark will take care of it” Pietro made a face and sighed to himself. Katya sat down next to her brother who leaned his head against hers.

“No, he won't” Wanda shook her head, remembering all that happened when she invaded his mind. She felt a bit guilty now after she saw his worst fear, something that had oddly enough been less self-centered than the rest of his team. Yet she also knew the extent he would go to just so he could fix his mistake.

“You don't know what you're talking about, Stark's not crazy” Wanda wore a heartbroken expression, realizing that it all could’ve been for nothing. “He will do anything to make things right” Wanda’s words sunk in for a moment. Steve turned on his comms to speak. “Stark, come in. Stark. Anyone on comms?” Nobody answered.

“Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?”


	7. FIVE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vision is born and they prepare for battle.

STEVE SHOCKINGLY BROUGHT the Maximoff siblings with him to the Avengers Tower. The three were extremely apprehensive about going with him, even if they realized that Steve was warming up to them. They hadn't known they were on the wrong side of the fight, but they had been and caused a lot of damage and horror to others.

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to go inside" Katya murmured as they officially arrived at the tower. "You're here to help now, right?" Katya nodded at Steve's words. "Then it'll be fine. We need all the help we can get" Katya clung to the twin's sides as they followed Captain America to the lab where Tony and Bruce were about to put another AI like Ultron into the artificial body.

This was a bit surreal to her. She was following behind the man who she had been taught to hate by HYDRA, she was going to be working alongside a group of people that she had previously despised in order to stop an AI that tricked her and her siblings into thinking that he was going the right thing.

They entered the lab to see Tony and Bruce uploading something to the cradle. Steve's loud footsteps caught their attention. "I'm gonna say this once" Tony looked at the man with a harsh glare. "How about nonce?" Steve ignored Tony's snarky reply.

"Shut it down" Katya couldn't help but wonder what Tony and Bruce were even going to upload to the cradle in the first place. Did they have another version of Ultron already created? Or did Tony create one in such a short timeframe? If it wasn't for the drastic situation, she'd be intrigued.

"Nope, not gonna happen" Tony's attention was focused on Steve, but Bruce's was on the Maximoff siblings. He especially disliked Wanda who had gotten into his head previously made the Hulk go on a rampage in a city in Africa.

"You don't know what you're doing" Bruce got up from his crouching position. "And you do? She's not in your head?" Bruce gestured to the Scarlet Witch. Wanda stepped forward carefully, trying to show that she wasn't there to do anything malicious. Not anymore.

"I know you're angry" Bruce showed no signs of turning into the Hulk even though he appeared to be rather angry. "Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade" Steve took another step forward as a feeling of protectiveness over Wanda and her siblings washed over him. He believed they had a chance to be good, they were still teenagers for God's sake.

"Banner, after everything that's happened..." Tony interrupted Steve. "That's nothing compared to what's coming!" He shouted back, his tone making Katya slightly curl into her big brother's side. Pietro glowered at Stark for upsetting his baby sister.

"You don't know what's in there!" Wanda exclaimed. "This isn't a game..." Pietro gave his sister a stern look as if telling her to 'stay-put'. Katya knew he was impatient but the idea she assumed he had would stop this once and for all. "The creature..." All arguments were stopped when Pietro zoomed around and slightly destroyed the lab before unplugging the cradle.

He was now standing next to Bruce who was a bit startled at how fast the speedster really was. "No, no. Go on. You were saying?" Time slowed down for Pietro when a bullet came from below him and somewhat in front of his face. He watched it in confusion, only for the glass below him to shatter and he fell through to the next floor where Clint was.

"Pietro!" Wanda and Katya both called out in fear. "What? You didn't see that coming?" Clint commented to the teen boy, payback for their first meeting where Pietro said the exact same words.

"I'm rerouting the upload" Stark exclaimed when he saw the monitor telling him that they had a critical power loss. Steve threw his shield into the wiring with made a huge explosion of sparks.

Katya worries that someone might get hurt, so she quickly siphoned the electricity. Only Bruce noticed the sparks that had burst into the air flying over to the fifteen-year-old girl and practically absorbing itself into her body.

Tony called for his repulsive glove and sent an energy beam at Steve to stop him from interfering further. Steve went flying backward on to the floor while Tony's armor started to attach itself to his body.

Wanda moved her sister backward with her powers before letting the red mist flow from her hands as she went to fight, only for Bruce to appear behind her and put her in a chokehold. "Go ahead, piss me off" He dared.

Steve and Tony were still fighting, Wanda let her sister out of the hold she kept her in which let her go save her sister. Using wind, she pushed Bruce back, far enough in which he unwillingly had let her sister out of the chokehold. Katya rushed to her sister side and gave Bruce a look as if daring for him to attack.

The commotion all stopped when Thor entered the lab with his hammer, Mjölnir, in his hand. He got on top of the cradle, puzzling every one of them. When he summoned lightning from the sky, Katya realized what he was doing. He was bringing it to life.

"Wait!" Bruce yelled, but Thor paid no attention to it. Once he had summoned enough lightning in Mjölnir, he focused it solely onto the cradle which charged it. The monitors were beeping with the words 'power overload' blinking in a warning.

Soon, Thor stopped and nothing appeared to have happened. That is until the cradle burst open and sent Thor flying across the lab.

The formerly unoccupied red body jumped out into a landing position. Tony had taken cover behind a machine as did Bruce. Steve took a few steps back but otherwise hadn't moved.

Wanda and Katya, on the other hand, hadn't moved a muscle and stared at the new AI in shock. They both felt a connection with the robotic creature due to the gem placed on his forehead that had come from the Tesseract, the same thing HYDRA used to experiment on them with.

Soon, the ones who were taking cover came out of their spots and all stared at the newly created creature who glanced all of them in confusion. He then went flying out of the lab, only for Thor to swiftly grab him and chuck him through the window.

The thing went flying, only to stop himself before he could crash through the large window that separated the building from the outside word. He floated in midair and looked at the brightly lit up city in awe.

They all, including Pietro and Clint, rushed out of the room and prepared to fight. Thor had gotten out first and put his hand up, signaling them to stop and wait. When the red man turned around, Thor carefully set Mjölnir down on the coffee table.

The nameless robot then floated down onto the floor, having created synthetic clothing that covered his body as the others had on. "I'm sorry, that was...odd" He peered over at Thor. "Thank you" His voice sounded British and familiar to the original Avengers. He made a cape appear on his body, mimicking the one Thor had on.

"Thor, you helped create this?" Steve spoke up. "I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that" Thor pointed at the gem that was attached on the creatures, unknowingly now named Vision, forehead.

"What, the gem?" Bruce asked, taking a few steps closer to his friend and the thing he aided in creating. "It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities" Katya latched her arm with Pietro's.

"Then why would you bring it to..." Thor interrupted Steve. "Because Stark is right" This took everyone by surprise. "Oh, it's definitely the end times" Katya's mouth curved upwards slightly at Bruce's words, not being able to help it due to the humorous comment.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron" Katya kept her focus on Vision, studying how he seemed to copy Thor's appearance and movement. "Not alone" Steve started to step forward whileVision started to walk the opposite way. "Why does your vision sound like JARVIS?" Katya furrowed her eyebrows when Visions gaze lingered on the three siblings for a moment as if he felt the connection too.

"We...we reconfigured JARVIS' matrix to create something new" Tony stated as Vision walked right by him. "I think I've had my fill of new" The old man came out of Steve, wishing he was back in the forties where it wasn't as complex as now.

"You think I'm a child of Ultron?" He looked at Steve for a moment. "You're not?" Vision appeared as if he was having an internal crisis at the comparison. "I'm not Ultron. I'm not JARVIS. I am...I am" Wanda stepped closer to Vision, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I looked in your head and saw annihilation" The android looked at her with no hint of anger. "Look again" Clint started to make his way over. "Yeah. Her seal of approval means jack to me" He snapped.

"Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side..." Steve interjected, looking over at Vision. "Is it? Are you? On our side?" Vision looked conflicted as he tried to form his thoughts into words that they would all understand.

"I don't think it's that simple" Clint crosses his arms over his chest. "Well it better get real simple real soon" Vision was not phased by the hint of threat in the archer's tone.

"I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't, he will end it all" Katya dug her nails into the palm of her left hand. She had a hand in helping Ultron get closer to his goal of ending all life. She had been so ignorant that she allowed this to happen. The only thing that got her to stop was her brother's own hand forcing her to release her fingers from her palm before rubbing it carefully and soothingly. The Avenger's gaze lingered on the two before turning their attention back to Vision.

"What is he waiting for?" Tony said Vision, the android who was created using his beloved AI JARVIS. "You" Wanda was standing on the other side of Pietro, watching Vision with suspicion.

"Where?" Bruce's voice was a lot quieter when he asked this. "Sokovia. He's got Nat there too" Bruce made his way up to Vision, eyeing the android in distrust despite having a hand in his creation.

"If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you be..." Bruce paused for a moment which gave Vision a lead-way to talk. "What will you do?" He looked around the room at everyone, knowing that Bruce had been threatening him.

"I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others" Vision gestured to the Maximoff's, basically hinting they were needed to take down Ultron too.

Vision looked down at his hands for a moment. "Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go" The Original Avengers looked at Vision with wide eyes after he picked up Mjölnir, Thor's hammer that only the worthy could hold, and held it out for Thor to grab.

Thor reluctantly grabbed it and Vision walked away to prepare. "Right" Thor patted Tony on the back. "Well done" This seemed to snap everyone out of their shocked expression.

"Three minutes. Get what you need" Everyone went their separate ways to get all their stuff ready for battle. Clint reluctantly showed the three to the locker room where there were extra clothes for them to change into.

Katya wore a simple black top, a red jacket that matched Wanda's, leggings, and simple black sneakers. She was the first one out of her siblings to be ready so she left the locker room.

"Kid—" Katya turned around, startled until she saw it was Clint. "You don't need to fight with us, you know" Katya smiled softly at the man. Clint didn't like the Maximoff's but he also knew they were technically children.

"It's my fault, I'm one of the reasons that Ultron might be able to end the entire world. He’s targeting my home, where my family once lived together, where my friends live” Katya frowned to herself before continuing. “I have to fight”.


	8. SIX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was time to battle. Katya makes a choice to fight rather than hide.

SOKOVIA WAS HER HOME. It was where she grew up with her two older siblings. It was there where she lost her parents in a bombing that almost killed her and her siblings. It was there where she had to learn how to survive. And it was there where she became something that wasn't fully human.

And now, she had to save her home country from a murderous android named Ultron who believed the way to save humanity was to end it. He and his team of Ultron Sentries(artificially intelligent robots controlled by Ultron himself) were going to destroy Sokovia and all life on it. Katarina Maximoff, only fifteen-years-old, had to team up with her siblings and a group of people she formerly hated to save it.

The Avengers first priority was clearing as many citizens out of the country as possible. Katya didn't need her powers to help with this part, she helped get as many people to leave as possible. They seemed to want to follow the Maximoff's orders more than the Avengers since they trusted them more, being natives of Sokovia.

Katya was pleased to help her people, it made her realize that she can help others without using any of her powers given to her by a terrorist organization who manipulated her and her siblings.

As Katya helped more people evacuate, Ultron Sentries started showing up out of nowhere. Some flew in and others burst out of the ground and crawled up like zombies from those terrible American movies that Katya had seen.

The screams of the innocent citizens of Sokovia filled the air as they attempted to run as fast as they could to avoid the robots. There was a group she saw trying to run away, a group that included children and the elderly, but had Ultron Sentries' trailing right behind them.

Katya, who had siphoned as much power form the earth beforehand, created a wall of fire separating the group of innocent people from the rogue robots. "Find a safe location far away from here, go!" She instructed them, speaking in Sokovian. The group scurried off and Katya let the wall of fire down. The robots were about to attack her, thinking that she wasn't going to fight, only to be attacked by the young girl who used her power of wind to help her tear them apart.

Katya ran around the city, helping people escape until she finally found her elder sister. Wanda was with Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, who scared Katya almost more than Bruce. He was human but he wasn't weak, otherwise, he and Natasha wouldn't be on a team full of enhanced/robotic individuals. The fact that he could keep his own against Ultron's robots was both impressive and terrifying.

"Dove!" Wanda exclaimed when she saw that her little sister was okay, engulfing her into a quick hug. "Where's Piet?" Katya asked, worried that Pietro was already in danger despite the fact that the speedster could clearly hold his own in a fight.

"He's fighting with the others, he's okay" Katya let go of the breath she had been holding in anticipation. "Thank—" Katya paused mid-sentence when she felt the Earth screaming in pain.

One of her powers was Ecological Empathy, meaning she could sense the overall well-being and condition of her surrounding environment. She usually couldn't hear anything unless she tuned into it specifically, but the extreme pain and fear of her environment meant that the city was going to be destroyed somehow.

Katya was ever-so-grateful that they were currently residing in an empty street where the only other things around them were the remains of Ultron's Sentries.

"Clint, Wanda, somethings about to happen!" The three felt the earth below them start to quake just as everyone else did. Katya could feel exactly what was happening. Ultron created a circle surrounding the main city, breaking it before lifting it and everything, everyone, that was caught in it, which included them.

The city was somehow being raised in the air. And floating above it was Ultron, sending his message for everyone to be able to hear.

"Do you see? The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal".

Wanda, Katya, and Clint got into their own defensive stances. Katya almost forgot that she and her siblings were given individual comms until Steve spoke to them over it.

"Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed, walk it off".

Katya looked at Clint in confusion, wondering if he knew exactly what Steve was saying considering it didn't make much sense to her. Clint only shrugged and got his bow and arrows ready to aim and fire.

Soon, Ultron's Sentries started to fight again, coming down the street that had previously been void of them. Katya was visibly frazzled, her sister even more so. There were more and more of those things multiplying in unbelievable numbers.

Katya, despite her fear and age, was ready to take on the creatures even if it meant her death. Her hands were a bit shaky but she lifted them to start fighting Ultron's little minions but was dragged off alongside Wanda by Clint who noticed the signs of the sister's freaking out even when Katya attempted to hide them.

They were blasted by an energy beam from one of the robots. The energy beam shattered the window of a currently abandoned building behind them right before it sent the three crashing into the same building.

Wanda and Katya moved themselves over so they wouldn't have anything aimed at them through the open area that was previously a window. Wanda was hyperventilating while Katya squeezed her eyes closed as she tried to calm herself down by focusing on siphoning elements from the core of the earth.

"This is all our fault" Wanda cried out, squeezing Katya's free hand tightly. Clint knelt down and faced the two. He couldn’t help but see his kids in the scared Maximoff’s place and it horrified him. To even imagine his kids going through all this would kill him. He was thankful that, even if he died that day, Laura would still be there to make sure their kids didn’t go down that path.

“Hey, look at me. It's your fault, it's everyone's fault, who cares” Katya opened her eyes and met Clint’s piercing ones that flickered between the sisters.

“Are two you up for this? Are you? Look, I just need to know, cause the city is flying. Okay, look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense” Clint’s speech was interrupted when something that shot into the building through one of five tiny holes in the wall. He swiftly stood up with his bow and arrows and shot at whatever was trying to attack them before crouching back down to their level.

“But I'm going back out there because it's my job. Okay? And I can't do my job and babysit. It doesn't matter what you did, or what you were. If you two go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. Stay in here, you're good, I'll send your brother to come find both of you, but if you step out that door, you are Avengers” Clint looked between the two once more before standing up.

“Alright, good chat” Clint got up from his spot and had his back against the door, putting his arrows in the bow, preparing to go take down as many of Ultron’s robots as possible.

“Yeah, the city is flying” He mumbled, mostly to himself, before bursting through the door and rejoining the battle. Wanda and Katya looked at each other.

“Pietro’s fighting, Wanda, I can’t just sit back and not do anything. Not when I’m part of the reason that Ultron’s doing this. Not when I have these powers that could help them win” Katya stood up.

“We’ve done horrible things, things that can end up being worse than every bad thing the Avenger’s have done combined. Nothing can make up for our part in this, but I’m going out there. Are you coming with or not?” Katya’s speech got her sister to stand up and join her.

“Let’s do this” The two smirked at each other before walking out the door of the shelter, synchronized in both their steps and their attacks on the robots that were closing in on Clint. The archer looked a bit surprised that they decided to join the fight but was glad.

They were now Avengers and were willing to die in this fight. But it wouldn’t be them dying, it would be something even worse.


	9. SEVEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Pietro’s death scene.
> 
> As the battle continues on, Katya is forced to deal with the one thing she couldn’t handle. Losing her big brother.

THEY HAD FINALLY DESTROYEDall of Ultron Sentries in their area. Wanda and Katya, even though they lacked a great deal of fighting experience,

"We're all clear" Clint announced over the comms. "We are not clear! We are very not clear!" Josie heard Steve exclaim dramatically over the comms as he fought more bots.

Clint looked over at the sisters. "Alright, coming to you" Pietro zoomed out of nowhere and grabbed his sister's arms. "Keep up old man!" Pietro teased the archer before zooming off again.

Clint had his bow and arrow pointed at where Pietro had previously been. "Nobody would know. Nobody. The last I saw him when Ultron was sitting on him. Uh...yeah, he'll be missed, that quick little bastard. I miss him already" He mumbled to himself before resting his bow down to his side and running after the teens.

Pietro let go of his sisters once they reached where they would be needed. A group of Sokovian police were shooting at Ultron's Sentries but weren't doing any damage. It was time for the Sokovian native teens to protect their country.

Pietro zoomed by a group of Sentries and destroyed them before they could ever realize what was happening. Wanda used her red mist/telekinesis like powers to take down a group of bots.

Katya, on the other hand, used ice to freeze the heads of the robots before she kicked their heads off and destroyed them.

A bullet from one of the police officers grazed Pietro's arm. The officer looked at him sheepishly, embarrassed that he accidentally hit the enhanced. Pietro gave him a look before raising his hands up in an 'are you kidding me?' like motion, before continuing the battle.

They all split up as they all had different priorities. Katya focused on keeping innocent civilians safe. The brunette gathered a group of kids, most of them had lost their parents, inside one of the lobbies of the building while she kept watch in case the building was going to come down.

"Katya—" The girl turned to see one of the little kids, Miloš, was looking up at her with wide eyes filled with absolute terror. "Will we be okay?" He asked in Sokovian. "I will make sure you all get out safe, I promise" She replied back, also in Sokovian.

It hadn't been too long after when she heard a noise of what seemed like an aircraft outside. The kids, there had been nine of them, all huddled around her in fear. The only airships that they were used to hearing were the ones of the enemy, ones that were either dropping bombs or shooting at them, so they were obviously scared out of their minds.

"Can anyone tell me what's going on?" She asked in English over the comms. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is here with aircraft to save everyone. Get as many civilians as you can over here" Katya smiled brightly before glancing at the kids who were looking at her with curiosity.

"The good guys are here with ships to bring you to safety. Come on!" All the kids started to cheer. Katya picked up the youngest kid, three-year-old Erik, before she told the kids to stay close and followed her before leaving the building and leading the kids to the Helicarrier, to safety.

They had been almost attacked quite a few times on the way, Ultron's Sentries who wanted to prevent anyone from surviving. Katya was utterly irritated with them, setting them on fire quickly while ushering the kids to their safety.

The police officers who were helping people onto the Helicarrier were flabbergasted when they saw a teen girl with a mini swarm of children running their way with bots behind them that were on fire. They were able to snap out of it and started getting the kids on the aircraft.

Erik cried when Katya went to hand him to one of the police officers. "Erik, I will be back. You have to go with them" She said in Sokovian, giving the boy a quick hug. Erik's crying slowed down and he whimpered before reluctantly letting go of his savior and letting the Sokovian officer take him on board.

Another officer looked at her with sympathy. Katya was a young teenager covered in soot from the debris of the battles going on throughout the city. "You need to come on board" Katya shook her head.

"I'm with the Avengers" She informed before running back into the fight. She soon figured out that the rest of them, including her siblings, were where the core was. She made her way over as quickly as she could. Wanda and Pietro rushed to her side and started fussing over her.

"You good?" Katya surveyed the room to see that most of the Avengers were there too. "I'm fine, brother, sister" She reassured them before getting ready to protect the one thing keeping them from all dying instantly.

Natasha showed up after Katya. "What's the drill?" She asked Tony who was still in his Iron Man suit. "This is the drill" He pointed to the Vibranium core. "If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose" The Hulk showed up right before Ultron flew down and in front of the chapel that he had previously admired.

They all circled around the core, glaring at Ultron as they stood in their fighting stances. Each one having their own specific skill set that was necessary to defeat the rogue AI. "Is that the best you can do?" Thor shouted, his right hand having a tight grip on Mjölnir.

As soon as the words flew out of Thor's mouth, a hoard/army of even more bots arrived, ones that hadn't been in the battle previously. Pietro inched closer to his youngest sister protectively.

"You had to ask" Steve sighed, glancing at his teammate. "This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?" Ultron announced, giving his villain speech.

Ultron's robotic eyes flickered momentarily to the three Maximoff's. He wished that he would've had time to explain everything before they ended up switching sides. They were the only humans he liked, the only ones he was gonna let live. But they chose the Avengers, the villains in his mind that probably manipulated them as they had done with a lot of others. He would give them chances to switch sides, but he wouldn't hesitate to kill them if needed.

"Well, like the old man said" Tony started, looking over at Steve who met his gaze despite his faceplate covering his face. "Together" The Hulk roared loudly in agreement. As soon as the bots heard the roar, they started charging over, some crawling out of the ground creepily.

Katya was a bit shocked with herself when she was able to fight back and win against the countless robots attacking the corner/part of the core that she stood in front of. She hadn't used fire since she didn't want it to backfire and hurt the others surrounding her, so she used air, which was the most simple for her.

It was as if the bots were stuck in some sort of wind vortex, being shattered as only they were stuck in it. Unfortunately, Katya could only do one vortex per five bots, so it was a bit tedious.

At some point Vision, Thor, and Tony left to take on Ultron himself. When they had weakened him, when Ultron was almost destroyed, Hulk marched over and punched the AI's robotic body and made it go flying in the air and miles away.

The bots stopped what they were doing as soon as Ultron was defeated and started to retreat. "They'll try to leave the city!" Thor stated. "We can't let 'em, not even one. Rhodey!" Tony called for his best friend in the comms. "I'm on it".

The bots were all gone, it was just them. Steve turned to face the whole group. "We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you" Steve instructed.

"What about the core?" Clint reminded Steve of the thing that, if the bots came back and got to it, could still fulfill Ultron's plan. "I'll protect it" Clint's head turned around to face Wanda who had spoken up. Pietro wasn't there, going around to destroy the bots that hadn't flown off yet.

Katya, who was still there, frowned. "It's my job" Clint nodded, the lingering concern expressed on his face while he, Natasha, and Steve left.

A few moments later, Pietro zoomed over with the scraps of other bots. He noticed that Katya was scared and it wasn't caused by the battle.

"Get the people and Katya on the boats" Wanda ordered her twin. "I'm not going to leave you here" Pietro spoke, moving his youngest sister to his side as he refused to leave his other younger sister to fight alone.

"I can handle this" A bot came charging over to the core, only to be blasted by Wanda's powers. "Come back for me when everyone else is off, not before" Wanda then looked at her baby sister.

"Stay on the boat with the others, little sister. I promise that I will do my best to get back to you both" Katya's bottom lip trembled slightly before Wanda pulled her in for a quick hug, Pietro doing the same.

"You know, I'm twelve minutes older than you" Pietro reminded his twin. "Go" Wanda chuckled at her brother's antics. "Alright, come on prinţesă" Pietro picked his sister up and sped over to the 'boats'(which were basically mini aircraft) and set her down in one of the seats and buckled her in despite her complaints.

"Stay here. I'll be back, Kitty-Kat" Pietro told his sister, slightly teasing her as he acted like she was a child. "Don't do anything stupid, Piet" She teases back. Pietro smirked at his baby sister. "But that's my favorite thing to do" In a flash, he was gone and zooming off to do whatever it is he was planning on doing.

She waited patiently until she felt a scorching pain in her mind. It wasn't because she was injured, she knew exactly what was causing it.

When Wanda discovered that her powers had something to do with the minds of others, she quickly established a link between them. Wanda was the one who could mostly use it to send thoughts to her siblings, Katya and Pietro were restricted on what they could do.

But the pain she was feeling, she knew it was because part of the mind-link was partially broken. And if it was still established partially, it meant that Wanda was alive. But Pietro....

Katya swiftly unbuckled herself from the seat and used her manipulation of air/wind to quickly get her on the land to where Pietro would be. It wasn't flying, it was merely hovering as she made herself go at such a fast rate that would almost be comparable with Pietro's.....She knew it was probable that he was dead, she couldn't let go of the tiny bit of hope that he was alive.

When she arrived at the scene and let herself stop hovering, the tiny sliver of hope she had was shredded along with her own heart. Thor and Steve has just arrived over after hearing the gunshots. Clint was still kneeling on the ground while the boy Pietro saved, their friend's little brother Costel, was laying on the ground, unconscious.

Katya couldn't help but sob loudly as she saw the state Pietro's dead body was it. His blue eyes were wide and glazed over, though she could sense the fear they had held right before his death. His entire torso was covered in bullet holes and blood. He looked just like their father had when they recovered their bodies after the bombing. His body exploded into different parts but they were able to recover his head. It held the same fear in his icy-blue eyes.

"No!" The three Avengers heard the sobbing and turned around to see that the youngest Maximoff was standing ten feet away from them. Tears started trickling out of her puppy-like eyes while she covered her mouth in horror. She then started to walk towards them slowly.

"Katya—" Steve started but was stopped by Thor who put his hand on the super-soldiers' shoulder. As someone who had just recently lost his own brother, he understood what she was going through.

Katya just stared at her brother's dead body in horror until she and Clint noticed that Costel was stirring awake. Katya bottled her emotions up as quickly as she could before quickly picked the young boy up and shielded him away from seeing Pietro's body like Pietro had done for her and Wanda when their parents died.

"Katya" The little boy whimpered to his sister's friend. Though he hadn't seen the dead body, he remembered what happened right before he went unconscious. He knew Pietro sacrificed himself.

"It's alright, Costel" She soothed before she made eye contact with Clint. "I'll get his body" Katya squeezed her eyes shut painfully for a moment before nodding in gratitude. She opened them back up and walked fast to the boat where Costel's sister was on, making sure she kept shielding the child from seeing any of the damage around them.

Zrinka, his sister, had been sitting in one of the seats while she held back her cries of fear for the little boy she had to raise when her mother died in childbirth and her father died a few years prior in a violent riot.

The girl started to sob in relief when she spotted Katya carrying Costel. She set the boy down and he immediately ran over to his sister and climbed on her lap before hugging her. Zrinka held on to her brother tightly and sent Katya a thankful look.

The enhanced teen couldn’t even get herself to fake smile, her head still hurting, but not as bad as her heart. She lowered herself into a seat that was in an empty row away from everyone.

Katya pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them while she fought the urge to sob once more. She hadn’t cried this much since she was eight years old and Pietro had been the one to comfort both her and Wanda. Who would be there for them now?

Clint came to the boat less than five minutes later, holding the lifeless body of Pietro Maximoff in his arms. Clint walked over to her empty row and set Pietro on the ground before making his way towards Katya.

Clint was exhausted and only wanted to lay down. But as a father and a good person, he wasn’t going to leave the distraught fifteen-year-old to grieve on her own. Especially not the little sister of the guy who sacrificed himself to save him and the little boy that he was about to sacrifice himself to save.

Clint opened his arms slightly, gesturing Katya to hug him if she wanted. Katya didn’t even hesitate to get up and accept the hug, wrapping her arms around Clint’s torso(due to the fact that he was four inches taller than her). Clint comforted her as he would’ve if it were either of his children in her position.

It would take a long time for her to fully grieve over the loss of her elder brother. Pietro had filled the paternal role for her, even if he was only a few years older than her and childish, when their parents had died like how Wanda filled the maternal role.

Pietro was dead, and there was no way she would ever get him back.


	10. EIGHT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the Sokovia fight and what Katya has been going through since the day where she and Wanda aided the Avengers in saving the world.

  
**TWO MONTHS****. **It had been over two months since Pietro died. Since Katya lost both her brother and her home city. Since she was taken in by the Avengers who, for some reason, were very welcoming and hadn't blamed either for what they had done.

Wanda practically tripled her overprotectiveness once they arrived in the United States to live in the new Avengers Compound. After the loss of Pietro, Wanda took on the role of the eldest sibling/main parental figure for the girl who was only a few years younger than her.

Every single day was a struggle variating degrees. Everything was just so...**different** without Pietro Maximoff in the room with her.

Wanda seemed to be grieving healthily. She didn't just have Katya anymore, she had a bunch of new friends like Vision and Steve to talk with. Katya, on the other hand, rarely talked to anyone that wasn't Wanda or FRIDAY(Stark's new AI who seemed to appreciate Katya treating her like she did with Wanda).

The only time she actively sought someone out to talk to was, surprisingly, Tony so she could apologize to him. He surprised her by saying that he held no hard feelings. He explained that he knew she didn't know much about HYDRA and had only been following behind her siblings' orders at thirteen years old.

Tony and Steve(despite struggling to get along after what happened) had helped her obtain legal citizenship in the United States by both becoming her legal guardians.

While Katya was a legal citizen now, Wanda was only on temporary citizenship from the government because she was now eighteen. It would be a much harder fight to win.

Tony had even helped her pick out a school to go to. She chose the Midtown School Of Science and Technology.

Her school back in Sokovia had the basic science courses that she had done extremely well in. Technology had always interested her, like Ultron and Vision, so she had been super excited to go to this school specifically. Though, she would be a grade behind her age group so she could catch up on stuff.

A new group of superheroes were being created, the New Avengers. This consisted of Vision, War Machine, the Falcon, and the Scarlet Witch. The Siphon, aka Katya, decided to be a part-time member of the team until she graduated high school in which then she would decide how she wanted to continue with her life.

This was a fresh start for the girl, a new beginning that she knew Pietro had always wanted for them.

Pietro wasn't there to see it start, and Katya would, later on, be happy that he wasn't around to see it fall.


	11. NINE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year update on Katya's new life.

**IT HAD BEEN OVER A YEAR SINCE **the Battle of Sokovia where Katya helped save the country and world that she originally had put in danger. Over a year since she lost her big brother and gained a new superhero family.

A lot of things were different now. One of the biggest changes was living at the Avengers Compound in Upstate New York and having access to so many luxurious things.

Katya had been poor her entire life, even before her parents died. Her and Wanda felt awkward with all this money and resources that they had never seen before being offered to them by the man they had hurt so bad, Tony Stark.

Wanda and Katya barely accepted anything that wasn't necessary to have, feeling terrible for taking Tony's money after everything they had done to him and the others.

Katya constantly did everything she could to make up for everything that happened due to her former affiliation with HYDRA as well as helping Ultron almost destroy the entire world.

Everyone always made excuses that she wasn't to blame, that she had been too young to understand what HYDRA was when they joined and had been lied to as well as following her older siblings who had done it first.

HYDRA might have been able to manipulate her since she had been so young at the time, but she had willingly followed Ultron who had told them that he had wanted to destroy the Avengers, mainly his creator Tony Stark. And because they had previously blamed him for the deaths of their parents, she and the twins joined willingly. 

Katya did a lot of volunteer work outside of school. She knew she couldn't make up for all of the lives lost because of her so she did everything else she could to help people.

On a lighter note, the past year had created a lot more opportunities since she was now living in America with a legal citizenship thanks to Tony Stark and Steve Rogers who became her legal guardians. Wanda was only on temporary citizenship but could apply to get one of her work with the Avengers kept up.

The Siphon, her superhero name, was only a part-time Avenger, coming out for the more severe battles that needed her specific powers. She couldn't be a full-time Avenger legally until she turned eighteen. So she focused more time either volunteering, training, or working on school stuff.

Katya loved going to school at Midtown School of Science and Technology in New York City, even if it was quite a while away from the Avengers Compound in Upstate New York.

Despite the fact that a lot of her classmates knew she was affiliated with the Avengers, none of them bugged her about them due to their fear of her hurting them with her powers. She actually had an easier time making friends. This generation grew up surrounded by superheroes and mutants, they were used to it and a lot more accepting.

Katya, with her love of technology and nature, surprised everyone when she became an instant prodigy. Tony often helped her with her work whenever she needed it, but it wasn't often considering she was really good at it.

She had a new family in the Avengers, even with the constant tension after Ultron between the group of hero's.

Katya knew it wouldn't last forever. Forever just so happened to be a year before everything went downhill...


	12. TEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya, while at school, finds out about the Lagos incident and panics.

**WHILE SCHOOL WAS USUALLY HELL **for a lot of adolescents, Katya thrived in school. Most of the adults in the media have had very negative things to say about Katya and her joining a school in America but all the Gen Z students that she went to school with were very welcoming.

Katya was fairly popular, not that she tried to be or anything. She had tons of friends for one of the first times ever, people of all different ages and backgrounds.

Katya's best friend was a girl she had met on her very first day of school, Loren Novak, who reminded her of a mix between Pietro, Tony, and Natasha.

Loren's one of the smartest kids in their grade and has no problem being cocky over it. She's good at manipulating people when she wants to, although she only does this towards the students who piss her off. She also liked to take in shy kids like strays which is how she became best friends with Katya on her first day of school when she had been too shy to talk to anyone.

Ever since they met, they've been stuck to each other's sides. Loren and her friends(which consisted of people originally claimed as '_outcasts_') were the best group of people she had ever met, not including the Avengers of course.

Katya had been eating lunch with Loren, her adoptive cousin Michelle Jones who usually kept to herself, and one of their friends names Isaac when people around the cafeteria started to pull out their phones and were loudly gossiping, some even looking over at her with a mix of shock and sympathy.

"Why is everyone looking at me like that?" Katya questioned, her internal panic starting to show on her face.

Isaac pulled out his cellphone after getting notifications from the news channel(Isaac has an anxiety disorder and regularly checks up on the news). His brown eyes widened in shock just like their other classmates had, opening the live footage and increasing the volume before showing moving his phone so Loren and Katya could see what was going on.

"_We're live in Lagos, Nigeria right now where the Avengers, including their newest recruit Wanda Maximoff, have just ended a confrontation with a group of mercenaries. The death total is unknown, dozens of people are injured"._

The footage of the fighting was shown. Katya flinched subtly away when she saw the part where Wanda had used her powers and accidentally destroyed a building and killed people inside of it. She was told that Wanda was going on a mission, she assumed it meant the new Avengers team doing a smaller scale mission, not Wanda with more of the original team than the new team.

"Rina?" Loren looked at her best friend with a concerned expression, one that she saved for only a few individuals. "What the hell were they thinking?" Katya mumbled, crossing her arms and rest her head down on them frustratedly.

"I'm sure they had a good reason, they're superheroes after all" Isaac tried to stay positive for his friend, even if he didn't completely believe himself either.

"Katya?" The enhanced teen didn't even register who's voice was calling out her name, looking around the room to see that the students were all looking at her, some looking away as soon as she saw them and whispering to the rest of the people at their table.

The chattering came to a stop when principal Morita and another para entered the cafeteria, everyone instantly knew who they were looking for. The principal and the para had a look of sympathy when they made eye contact with Katya. She didn't even know that she looked so hurt, puppy eyes unknowingly out and being used as she tried to process everything that she had just seen in the video.

All Katya wanted to do was go back to the compound and curl up in her fuzzy blankets in her bedroom, surrounded by the plants that Tony had gotten her after she only slightly mentioned that she had a connection with nature.

"Do you want us to come with?" Katya shook her head at Loren's offer. "I'll be fine. See you guys in a few days?" Katya guessed that she wouldn't be able to go to school for a few days because of this for her safety.

She threw her lunch tray way, she had luckily finished eating a few minutes ago and grabbed the backpack she had brought with her before silently following the two teachers.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The compound was usually bustling with tons of people, but now it was just empty besides the people who permanently lived there, most of which were locked away in their respective rooms.

Tony lived at the tower and didn't come around as much due to the tension between him and Steve after Ultron, even when Katya got Wanda to admit that it was a mix of her fault along with the mind stone's fault that the Ultron project was corrupted and not his(one of the many reasons why Tony was able to forgive Katya was due to her trying to do everything she could to make up for her mistakes). 

The only times Katya had seen them in the same room together before was her parent-teacher conferences, they showed up due to being her legal guardians. Sam had once told her that the situation between the two was almost like a divorced couple and she was the child put in the middle, which Katya didn't understand much until Vision used technical terms to explain what Sam had meant.

Happy Hogan had been the one to pick her up and drop her off at the compound because Tony was at a conference at MIT and Steve was caught up in dealing with the aftermath of everything in Lagos.

Katya knew that someone had to be here, at least one person. "Hello?" She called out, her voice bouncing off of the house and echoing through the almost empty compound.

"Katarina" She jumped at the sound of a new voice saying her full first name. She turned around harshly, feeling her body instantly create a swarm of wind in her hands that were prepared to be thrown at someone.

Katya only relaxed when she saw it was Vision who had phases through the walls once he sensed that she had arrived at the compound.

"V, 'm sorry. You scared me" She apologized for almost attacking the Android, calming the wind that had been in her hands previously.

"It is alright, Katarina. I often forget that I am not supposed to phase through walls" Vision was the only one she was okay with calling her by her full name, she had bonded with the Android who has the powerful stone on his forehead that had given her and her siblings their powers.

"Who else is here at the compound?" Vision's facial expression could only be described as his thinking face as he figured out who was there.

"It is just us for now. Your sister and the others should be arriving in approximately twenty minutes" Katya smiled gratefully at Vision.

Katya decided to try and get some homework done as she waited for them to arrive only to find it quite difficult to focus as her mind kept overthinking what had happened and making her panic. The fear of losing the only biological family she had left to something such as an arrest or deportation made her hands too shaky to write with her pencil with neat penmanship.

She felt relief when Vision entered her room(phasing through the walls, but he was working on it) to tell her that the others were back. Katya disregarded everything she was doing, leaving a bit of a mess behind in her room, as she almost ran out to the common room of the compound, the wind powers she possessed made her hover in mid-air and glide faster to see her sister.

In the common room was Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Wanda. Rhodey was most likely aiding the clean up in Lagos in his War Machine suit, something Katya wished she could help with.

"soră(_sister_)" She cried out, immediately embracing Wanda tightly. Katya was relieved that her sister hadn't been arrested or deported yet, clinging on to her as tightly as she could. Wanda did the same, tears welling up in her eyes(only a few falling) as she held her sister tightly. Wanda feared that she would never be able to see her baby sister again. Both sisters were only able to handle their brother's death because they had each other, losing each other now would be very damaging.

Nobody commented or broke the two sisters apart, wishing life could go back to the way it was before this incident. But everyone knew that everything was about to get a lot worse...


	13. ELEVEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Accords are presented and people start choosing sides. Katya just wants her family to stop fighting.

**IT HAD BEEN ONE MONTH **since the incident in Lagos, an entire month of only leaving the compound to go to school, an entire month of tension every single time she entered a room at the compound. School was her only escape from everything that happened back at home.

She rarely left her bedroom unless she was in Wanda's. She was reverting to her old self, the one from when she first arrived at the compound with Wanda, and nobody liked it. She'd rather spend time with her plants in her room than with the others, at least they were genuinely happy. 

Katya was in Wanda's room, the two curled up next to each other on Wanda's bed as they watched the news that was still covering the Lagos incident. She couldn't blame her sister that much for the Lagos incident, not as much as she did the others for taking Wanda on a non-Avengers related mission and not giving her enough details about what she was doing. Wanda was just as eager as her younger sister to do good to make up for all the bad she did with Ultron and HYDRA, this ruined her.

_"They are operating outside and above the international law. Because that's the reality, if we don't respond to acts like these—" _The two had heard Steve enter the room, both were too engrossed in the newscast to acknowledge his presence or to see that he was leaning against the doorframe.

_"What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeria_—" Steve has picked up the remote from the top of Wanda's dresser and turned the news off, knowing that the two girls shouldn't have to hear all the bad things the world was saying about the Avengers right now.

"It's all my fault" Wanda spoke out loud, earning an '_it wasn't all your fault_' from Katya in their mind link. "That's not true" Steve disagreed, looking at Katya for backup only to see her resting her head on Wanda's shoulder as Wanda had her arm around her and rested her head on the top of Katya's.

"Turn the TV back on. They're being very specific" Wanda retorted, curling closer to her sister. "I should've clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it" Steve made his way across the room.

"Rumlow said '_Bucky_' and...all of a sudden I was a 16-year-old kid again, in Brooklyn" Steve admitted, sitting on the bed with the Maximoff sisters. "And people died. It's on me" He finished.

"It's on both of us" Wanda corrected, moving to run her hands through Katya's curly hair. Steve looked at the girls sadly. He hated that they had to be apart of this world where every mistake they make will make everyone hate them.

"This job...we try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that, next time...maybe nobody gets saved" Katya hid her frown, not liking Steve's words. How are you supposed to find a way to live with it? Shouldn't we be trying to find a way to stop the deaths from happening in the first place?

Vision, of course, chose this time to phase through the wall, materializing right in front of their eyes. It made the three jump in surprise.

"Vis! We talked about this" Steve smiled when he saw Katya quietly laughing at the human outfit Vision seemed to be wearing which happened to be a sweater vest that made him look a bit dorky.

"Yes, but the door was open so I assumed that..." Vision stopped himself, focusing on the reason he had come into the room in the first place. "Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr. Stark was arriving" Katya beamed at the mention of her other legal guardian.

"Thank you. We'll be right down" Steve told the Android. "I'll...use the door" Vision stopped walking when he got the doorway and turned to face them for a moment. "Oh, and apparently, he's brought a guest" Vision recalled.

"Who?" Katya inquired, hoping it wasn't some fancy person and just one of the bots like DUMM-E. "The Secretary of State".

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Katya was forced to attend the meeting with the Secretary of State along with all of the official Avengers(including the newer team). It was Rhodey, Natasha, Steve, Katya, Tony, Sam, Vision, and Wanda sitting in a u-shape at the conference table while Thaddeus Ross stood in front of them with a projector behind him.

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my back-swing. Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass...I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me: Perspective" Katya started to pay attention more to the man as he stopped rambling about nonsense and got to the point of his visit.

"The world owes the Avengers an un-payable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives...but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some...who would prefer the word _vigilantes_" Katya slightly squirmed in her chair, feeling uncomfortable. It's quite obvious that Secretary Ross did not agree totally with what they have done so whatever

"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha spoke up, her true feelings undetectable through her emotional mask. "How about dangerous?" Katya's eyes flickered to Wanda, noticing how she tensed up at that word. It was one of HYDRA's favorite words to describe the Maximoff's with other than miracles.

"What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind" Ross activates the screen behind him, a virtual map opening and zooming in on all the locations he lists before showing footage from the attacks.

"New York" Footage from the attack in 2012 played on the screen. It showed the damage that the Avengers such as the Hulk inflicted while trying to protect everyone from Loki's army of Chitauri. Rhodey turned his head and glanced at Natasha who was sitting next to him, a guilty expression on his face even though he hadn't been there for it. Katya's eyes never left the screen as she knew what was eventually going to be shown, her own wrongdoings.

"Washington DC" This was an incident that Katya wasn't aware of, she barely knew about the Battle of New York before she became an Avenger. The footage showed the three insight helicarriers firing at each other before cutting to the destruction of the Triskelion. One helicarrier crashed into the Potomac and threw up a massive wave, engulfing innocent bystanders and the camera.

Katya's eyes were filled with horror, looking back at Tony who was silent and watching the footage with a brooding face. Katya turned back to the screen where everyone else was still looking at.

"Sokovia" The footage started with a sea of panicking and fleeing citizens, Katya recognized a few of them which made her heart sink knowing that some of those people didn't make it out alive and that was the last footage of them. It cut to the city rising and then falling.

Katya hadn't realized that her hands had been shaking until she felt a larger hand lock-in with her own. She looked to her side to see Steve looking at her worriedly. Katya squeezed his hand lightly to let him know she was alright.

"Lagos" It started with the footage of the burning building before cutting to all the injured people and paramedics who were moving a body, even showing the body of a dead female.

When Steve saw how it was affecting Wanda, he finally cut in. "Okay. That's enough" Ross turned to one of his aides and nodded, the aide turned off the footage since he had made his point.

"For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution" One of Ross' aides handed him a laminated folder with a bunch of pictures. He handed it to Wanda who handed it to Rhodey once she realized he would be one of the few who would understand it the best.

"The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries.... it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary" It was starting to become obvious on some of the team members' positions on these Accords.

"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that" Steve interjected, defending the group who had all stayed quiet. "Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Steve made eye contact with Ross, shifting a bit closer to Katya when Ross' gaze landed on her for a moment.

"If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes...you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground" Ross finished his big spiel.

"So, there are contingencies" Rhodey spoke up, trying to keep some sort of middle ground even though he knew what side he was on. "Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords" Steve turned back to glance at Tony, having a feeling that Tony had already decided his position on this.

"Talk it over" Natasha decided to speak up again. "And if we come to a decision you don't like?" She looked at the secretary with a blank look. "Then you retire" Natasha stifled a smile.

Katya hadn't look at anyone around her since the accords were brought out, she kept her head and glancing at her hands that she now placed in her lap. She knew that her position on this wouldn't matter as much compared to everyone else's because she was underage and her signature wasn't legally binding. But it would affect everyone she cared about, the family she had finally been able to have after so many years of it just being her and her and the twins. And now everyone would be fighting even more than they do now because of it.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

She was right that everyone would be arguing. After Ross had left, everyone moved to the HQ common room and started to review the accords as well as debating their stances on it. Katya did her best to stay practically invisible, sitting with Wanda and Vision since everyone else seemed to have made up their minds in some way. It was what she called "_the neutral zone_" which made Wanda stifle a smile when she shared it in their mind link.

Wanda started to braid Katya's hair absentmindedly as the bickering, currently caused by Rhodey and Sam, was starting to get loud.

"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have" Katya glanced at Tony who seemed like he was so done with the arguing, rolling his eyes as he placed a hand against his face.

"So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam argued. "117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, '_No, that's cool. We got it'_!" The second Avengers' team were used to the two bickering once in a while, but they were still close friends.

Vision decided to do what he always did when the two were stuck in an argument, he added a factual standpoint. "I have an equation" Everyone's attention fell on the red android. "Oh, this will clear it up" Sam muttered.

"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate" Katya's lips turned downwards, her bottom lip sticking out a bit which made her accidentally pout. Her brown, puppy-eyes looked at Vision with a hint of sadness.

"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked, looking up from the Accords that he had been trying to read but was too wrapped up in his own mind and opinions that it was hard to concentrate.

"I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict...breeds catastrophe. Oversight...oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand" Katya nodded in agreement, feeling Wanda use a rubber band to finish the braid she had been working on. The young teen curled close to her sister now.

"Tony—" Natasha started, looking at the genius who removed the hand from his face when she spoke to him. "You're being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal" She looked at the man, not being able to tell what exactly his view on it was. Unfortunately, Steve noticed right away.

"It's because he's already made up his mind" Tony's head turned slightly towards Steve for a moment. "Boy, you know me so well" Tony then got up from the chair, wincing in pain before rubbing the back of his head which was sore.

"Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache" Katya glanced at him in worry, shaking it off a bit when Tony easily walked to the kitchen and grabbed a mug out of a cupboard. "That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort" Tony went to turn the faucet on but saw something in the disposal.

Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" The two sisters noticed that Vision slumped down in his chair a bit at the mention of the garbage disposal. They knew Vision had tried to make them coffee this morning before everything happened so it was most likely him.

Tony set his phone in a basket on the counter and tapped it. A picture of a smiling young man projected from his phone so everyone could see it. He started to pour coffee in his mug as he talked.

"Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service" Everyone watched Tony as he talked, everyone having different reactions to it. Katya knew where it was going, she knew that Charlie Spencer was most likely a victim from the aftermath of an attack.

"Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where, Sokovia" The ones who seemed the most affected by this were Wanda, Katya, and Rhodey who all had tears welling up in their eyes that they didn't let fall.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass" He turned away for a moment, taking a pill and downing it with his coffee before turning back to the group.

"There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys" Tony's words hit her hard. She had experienced being the bad guy(unknowingly, of course) and she never wanted to go back to that again.

"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up" Vision placed a comforting hand on Katya's shoulder when he realized she was extremely tense, especially seeing Steve and Tony argue. She sent him a grateful smile.

"Who said we're giving up?" Tony narrowed his eyes on America's golden boy. "We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames" Rhodey had to jump in, Steve was not understanding the intensity of the situation and the power of the United Nations. You'd think that someone would've gotten him caught up on stuff like that already.

"I'm sorry. Steve. That—that is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not HYDRA—" Steve interrupted him. "No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change" Tony started walking over to them, adding into the conversation again.

"That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stop manufacturing" They all had a similar experience of their own with fixing their mistakes, they could all relate in that sense.

"Tony, you chose to do that. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own" Katya blinked back in shock.

_The safest hands are still our own._

While Katya saw Steve as family and cared about him deeply, she couldn't help the disgust that flashed in her eyes momentarily with those words. The people who thought that were the bad guys, those were the ones that needed to be in check. Katya hopes that he wasn't thinking the same way as the bad guys would.

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty" They all understood what Tony meant, eyes flickering over to the twins who would probably be the first ones to be attacked by the government. Even if Katya was a citizen and underaged, they would still find a way to ruin her if they wanted to.

"You're saying they'll come for us" Wanda stated what everyone was thinking, putting an arm around her sister who did the same in return. "We would protect you both" Vision reassured the two.

Katya, growing uncomfortable with the tension and everything being brought up, sent Wanda a quick message in their mind link before standing up. She was overwhelmed with emotions and needed space from everyone.

"котенок, where are you going?" Natasha looked at the girl with a hint of worry. Katya grinned sadly at the red-haired spy who was one of her trainers in fighting.

"My signature's not legally binding because I'm underage. Signing the accords isn't even an option for me. So I'm going to my room" She spoke softly before rushing to her bedroom, avoiding the chaos that would soon catch up to her.


End file.
